Born in Atlanta, Georgia, Tidwell graduated from the Henry W. Grady High School in Atlanta and then received a Bachelor of Laws from Emory University School of Law in 1954.
He was a legal aide to the House Floor Leader of the Georgia General Assembly from 1964 to 1966.
He was a judge of the Superior Court for the Atlanta Judicial Circuit from 1971 to 1979.
[2] Tidwell was nominated by President Jimmy Carter on June 5, 1979, to the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, to a new seat created by 92 Stat.
[2] He assumed senior status on October 8, 1999, serving in that status until his death on August 4, 2011, in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, while on a family reunion vacation.